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CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

Tamron’s new 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD looks like a really promising lens, offering a more compact and affordable alternative to the company’s existing 70-200mm F2.8 telezoom. We got our hands on one at the CP+ trade show in Yokohama, Japan – click through for a closer look.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

To start, the 70-210mm F4 VC really is impressively compact, weighing just 859 grams. It balances very well on a Nikon D750, one of the smaller full-frame DSLRs currently on the market, and shouldn’t give you a hand cramp if you haven’t shelled out for your camera’s accessory battery grip.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

As with Tamron’s 70-200mm F2.8, the new F4 version comes is a two-ring design, with the zoom ring pushed all the way out to the end of the barrel. Whether you prefer this to a zoom ring closer to the camera is a matter of personal preference, of course, but in our brief time with the lens, we found the zoom ring to be just a bit too narrow.

Autofocus speed is perhaps not quite as snappy as Nikon’s 70-200mm F4 offering, but should be plenty fast enough for shooting moving subjects.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

The 70-210mm F4 comes with Tamron’s Vibration Compensation system, offering a claimed four stops of stabilization (per CIPA). If you’re working on a tripod or just happen to have the world’s steadiest hands, the stabilization system can be disabled via a switch on the side. An → continue…

Drone maker DJI announced the winners of the 2017 SkyPixel aerial photography competition earlier this month, but already there’s a controversy. As it turns out, the winner of the Landscapes category wasn’t actually taken with a drone or captured in 2017.

The contest rules required entries to have been taken in 2017 using “any aerial platform,” but a recent report from PetaPixel reveals that the winning image in the Landscape category, “Sun’s Up, Nets Out” by Zay Yar Lin, was actually taken in 2014 using a Nikon D750 from an elevated bamboo stage… probably not what they meant by ‘aerial platform.’

In fact, the photograph—which has since been disqualified—was previously submitted to the NatGeo 2015 Traveler Photo Contest as well as the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards, and was a ‘top entry’ in the Amateur Photographer of the Year 2016 contest. Zay’s award bundle for the SkyPixel 2017 contest included a Nikon D850 and DJI Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian drone.

In a statement to PetaPixel, Zay Yar Lin explained that his D750 was attached to a hexacopter on said bamboo stage when this photo was shot, but that he didn’t realize the photo had to be taken in 2017. His statement reads:

I regret that I had shot with my DSLR with hexacopter on the bamboo stage to get the best angle. But to be honest, I wasn’t aware of the Photo Contest rules that all photos should have been shot in 2017. I’m a freelance and ethical photographer in the contests. Please look up my profile in any site. I really regret misunderstanding had occurred between us.